Considering the pumps they replaced the SU pump with were cheap, aftermarket pumps, I doubt there was much profit involved. It was probably more of a "field expedient repair." But who knows? I'm with you- I'd have rather sorted out the old SU pumps and called it a day. But the Carter replacement was an easy adaptation, and works well. It's also much quieter than those old cube pumps.

Mrs VCH, myself, and all the little VCHs are heading off on vacation today. Mrs VCH is at the wheel- driving our family truckster ('91 Suburban). So we're chatting about cars (naturally) and I'm describing the workings of the Laycock de-Normanville overdrive to her, the dual tiny gas tanks, etc, and she quips, "Men can't understand women, but you can drive a Jaguar?"

volvoclearinghouse wrote:
Considering the pumps they replaced the SU pump with were cheap, aftermarket pumps, I doubt there was much profit involved. It was probably more of a "field expedient repair." But who knows? I'm with you- I'd have rather sorted out the old SU pumps and called it a day. But the Carter replacement was an easy adaptation, and works well. It's also much quieter than those old cube pumps.

The Clunk clunk clunk of the SU fuel pump helped me learn to be a mechanic.. Switch on the ignition and the fuel pump fills the carbs.. So you know it's working, now check the spark... No Clunk clunk clunk and you know where to look.. It took me years before someone explained how simple they were to clean the points.. and how 99% of the time that was all that was needed..

As to profit, How much could a mechanic make pulling a piece of fine emery cloth through the points? Most British cars have the fuel pump in pretty easily accessible locations, especially if you have a lift available.
However replacing a fuel pump obviously is many many many times more expensive..

Great job mounting the pump in the rear to "push" the fuel instead of up front by the engine. Those pumps last much longer in that configuration.

Seeing this thread reminds me so much of what I went through with my basket case 240Z. Points, SUs, adding the electric fuel pump when the stock one crapped out, clutch sticking in the engage position. Once you get it done, it's as reliable as a tank. God save the Jag!

The Jag, to paraphrase John, Paul, George, and Ringo, is getting better all the time. With the fuel pump fixed, the last real niggling item on the list is the sort-of disturbing rear end pinion leak. Once I replace that seal, I plan on dropping the passenger side fuel tank and having it repaired, so the Jag is capable of carrying its full 14 gallon complement of petrol.

And once that tank is done, I'll probably drop the right one and have it cleaned out, just for good measure.

At some point the exhaust will need some attention. I can't decide whether to put it back to stock ($$$) or just run some side dumps ahead of the rear wheels.

If the weather hold up this weekend, maybe we'll take it out for ice cream or a local car show.

volvoclearinghouse wrote:
At some point the exhaust will need some attention. I can't decide whether to put it back to stock ($$$) or just run some side dumps ahead of the rear wheels.

My $0.02:

I'd do a cheap but quiet classy exhaust out the back and not to any kind of side pipe. I don't care what kind of car it is, if it's not a track built racecar it just looks dumpy to me.

The problem (well, one of them) with the exhaust is that the routing over the rear axle is extremely tight. It basically threads in between the axles, brake calipers, and suspension arms.

The easy button would be to take it to a local exhaust shop and have them bend something up, possibly omitting some of the extra resonators and whatnot. A full exhaust is over 1k online. So...not that. ;-)

volvoclearinghouse wrote:
The problem (well, one of them) with the exhaust is that the routing over the rear axle is extremely tight. It basically threads in between the axles, brake calipers, and suspension arms.
The easy button would be to take it to a local exhaust shop and have them bend something up, possibly omitting some of the extra resonators and whatnot. A full exhaust is over 1k online. So...not that. ;-)

A local hot rod shop should be able to do all the right bends and put even some cherry bombs in there for a few hundred bucks. Paint it all high temp BBQ grille black except the exit where you could put a classy tip on there. A good muffler shop that does hot rods often has seen it all and can get the job done with ease. The straight six is so smooth that it would still be pretty mellow with some cherry bombs or a flowmaster hushpower muffler. Any redneck exhaust shop show have those in stock for cheap.

Good plan. And, seeing as how I happen to live in the redneckiest county in Maryland, there's a fair shot that such a shop exists within spittin' distance of our homestead.

The Jag, my daughter, and I went for a drive Sunday to pick up new brake pads for my Volvo wagon, some items from the grocery, and peaches from the local farm stand. Around 20 miles in total- meaning the odometer now reads:

In reply to crankwalk :Volvo clearing house is right. Clearance on a Jaguar is amazingly tight. Plenty of ways to mess up so all you hear is the drone of exhaust pipe hitting. Or melting places that can't stand the heat etc. Remember the Jag is extremely narrow, low and has two gas tanks.

A great tubing bender could work wonders but it's not a Chevy or Ford with plenty of room to work. Think of a small early Ford Falcon and then shrink it. Now add a lot of complexity and a much more sophisticated suspension system.

I can see that I have been remiss in not visiting the Classic Cars forum as often as I should. I have only myself to blame for missing this thread over all these years. Car looks great! Good job taking it on, and your wife's quote is about the best thing I've read in a while.

Went out to start the Jag for a Saturday morning drive...and no noise from the fuel pump. :-( No time to troubleshoot it, yet, but I assume it's either not getting power or the pump suffered infant death.

Checked the pump out today. So...it was getting 10.6 volts. With 12.3 at the battery. So I started troubleshooting wires and fixed a few loose crimps and fatigued wires. Threw a charger on the battery (which should be between 12.5 and 13v with the engine off) and checked out the fuel pump. It was now getting 12.5v, but still would not run.

New Carter pump arrived Friday. After installing it on Sunday, the engine fired right up and we were back in business. I tooled it up and down the road a little bit.

The odometer now reads:

99,999

Now, I'm afraid to drive it. The odometer's going to roll over, and I feel like this should be commemorated in some fitting fashion. The problem is, I have no idea what to do. An event such as a 1966 Jaguar rolling over 100,000 miles deserves to be celebrated!